Rood

 ( Church Architecture ) 

A rood or rood cross, sometimes known as a triumphal cross, Gothic Sculpture, 1140-1300 by Paul Williamson (1998). Retrieved 26 Oct 2014. is a cross or crucifix, especially the large crucifix set above the entrance to the chancel of a medieval church.Curl, James Stevens (2006). Oxford Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, 2nd ed., OUP, p. 658. . Alternatively, it is a large sculpture or painting of the crucifixion of Jesus.

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Derivation Rood is an archaic word for pole, from Old English rōd 'pole', specifically 'cross', from , cognate to Old Saxon rōda, Old High German ruoda 'rod'. Oxford English Dictionary, "Rood"

Rood was originally the only Old English word for the instrument of Jesus Christ's crucifixion. The words crúc and in the North cros (from either Old Irish or Old Norse) appeared by late Old English; crucifix is first recorded in English in the Ancrene Wisse of about 1225. Oxford English Dictionary, "Cross", and "Crucifix" More precisely, the Rood or Holyrood was the True Cross, the specific wooden cross used in Christ's crucifixion. The word remains in use in some names, such as Holyrood Palace and the Old English poem The Dream of the Rood. The phrase "by the rood" was used in oath, e.g. "No, by the rood, not so" in Shakespeare's Hamlet (Act 3, Scene 4).

The alternative term triumphal cross (, ), which is more usual in Europe, signifies the triumph that the resurrected Jesus ( triumphans) won over death.Margarete Luise Goecke-Seischab / Jörg Ohlemacher: Kirchen erkunden, Kirchen erschließen, Ernst Kaufmann, Lahr 1998, p. 232

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Position In church architecture the rood, or rood cross, is a life-sized crucifix displayed on the central axis of a church, normally at the chancel arch. The earliest roods hung from the top of the chancel arch (rood arch), or rested on a plain "rood beam" across it, usually at the level of the capitals of the columns. This original arrangement is still found in many churches in Germany and Scandinavia, although many other surviving crosses now hang on walls.

If the choir is separated from the church interior by a rood screen, the rood cross is placed on, or more rarely in front of, the screen.E.g. in the abbey church of WechselburgIn England the name "rood screen" indicates that there is a (monumental) cross, even if the original cross has not survived. Under the rood is usually the altar of the Holy Cross.

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History Numerous near life-size crucifixes survive from the Romanesque art period or earlier, with the Gero Cross in Cologne Cathedral (AD 965–970) and the Volto Santo of Lucca the best known. The prototype may have been one known to have been set up in Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel in Aachen, apparently in gold foil worked over a wooden core in the manner of the Golden Madonna of Essen,Schiller, 141–146 though figureless jeweled gold crosses are recorded in similar positions in Hagia Sophia in Constantinople in the 5th century. Many figures in precious metal are recorded in Anglo-Saxon art monastic records, though none now survive. Notables sometimes gave their crowns (Cnut the Great at Winchester Cathedral), necklaces (Lady Godiva to the Virgin accompanying the rood at Evesham Abbey), or swords (Tovi the Proud, Waltham Abbey) to decorate them.Dodwell, 210–215 The original location and support for the surviving figures is often unclear but a number of northern European churches preserve the original setting in full – they are known as a Triumphkreuz in German, from the "triumphal arch" (or "chancel arch") of Early Christian architecture. As in later examples the Virgin and Saint John often flank the cross, and cherubim and other figures are sometimes seen. A gilt rood in the 10th-century Mainz Cathedral was only placed on a beam on special .Schiller, 140

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Components

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Image of Christ In the Romanesque art era, the crucified Christ was presented as ruler and judge. Instead of a crown of thorns, he wears a crown or a halo; on his feet he wears "shoes" as a sign of the ruler. He is victorious over death. His feet are parallel to each other on the wooden support ("four-nail type") and not one on top of the other.Torsten Droste: Romanische Kunst in Frankreich, DuMont Kunstreiseführer, Cologne, 1992(2), pp. 32f The perizoma (loincloth) is highly stylized and falls in vertical folds.

In the transition to the Gothic art style, the triumphant Christ becomes a suffering Christ, the pitiful Man of Sorrows. Instead of the ruler's crown, he wears the crown of thorns, his feet are placed one above the other and are pierced with a single nail. His facial expression and posture express his pain. The wounds of the body are often dramatically portrayed. The loincloth is no longer so clearly stylized. The attendant figures Mary and John show signs of grief.Formen der Kunst. Teil II. Die Kunst im Mittelalter, bearbeitet von Wilhelm Drixelius, Verlag M. Lurz, Munich, o.J. p. 71 and p. 88

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Attendant figures A triumphal cross may be surrounded by a group of people. These people may include Mary and John, the "beloved disciple" (based on John's Gospel – , , and ), but also apostles, angels and the benefactor.

• The triumphal cross of Öja Church in Öja on Gotland stands on a transverse beam beneath the triumphal arch and is flanked by two people: Mary and John.
• The triumphal cross in the abbey church of Wechselburg stands in an elevated position on the rood screen and also has the same pair of attendant figures.
• The triumphal cross in Schwerin Cathedral is also flanked by Mary and John. At the end of the cross' beam the evangelist's symbols may be seen.
• In St. Mary's Church in Osnabrück there are only the empty stone pedestals of the attendant figures.
• The triumphal cross above the screen in Halberstadt Cathedral is not flanked by Mary and John, but by two angels.
• On the supporting beam of the triumphal cross in Lübeck Cathedral there is also a bishop, presumably the benefactor of the cross.

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Rood screens developed in the 13th century as wooden or stone Rood screen, usually separating the chancel or choir from the nave, upon which the rood now stood. The screen may be elaborately carved and was often richly painted and gilding. Rood screens were found in Christian churches in most parts of Europe by the end of the Middle Ages, though in Catholic countries the great majority were gradually removed after the Council of Trent, and most were removed or drastically cut down in areas controlled by and Anglicans. The best medieval examples are now mostly in the Lutheranism countries such as Germany and Scandinavia, where they were often left undisturbed in country churches.

Rood screens are the Western equivalent of the Byzantine templon beam, which developed into the Eastern Orthodox iconostasis. Some rood screens incorporate a rood loft, a narrow balcony or just flat walkway which could be used to clean or decorate the rood or cover it up in Lent, or in larger examples used by singers or musicians. An alternative type of screen is the Pulpitum, as seen in Exeter Cathedral, which is near the main altar of the church.

The rood provided a focus for worship, most especially in Holy Week when worship was highly elaborate. During Lent the rood was veiled; on Palm Sunday it was revealed before the procession of palms, and the congregation knelt before it. The whole Passion story would then be read from the rood loft, at the foot of the crucifix, by three ministers.

Few original medieval rood crosses have survived in churches of the United Kingdom.Duffy, 1992, page not cited Most were deliberately destroyed as acts of iconoclasm during the English Reformation and the English Civil War, when many rood screens were also removed. Today, in many British churches, the "rood stair" that gave access to the gallery is often the only remaining sign of the former rood screen and rood loft.

In the 19th century, under the influence of the Oxford Movement, roods and screens were again added to many Anglican churches.

== Representative examples ==